Friday roundup: More trouble for Zango, a new president at Big Fish and other tidbits

Geez, it is getting hot in the Web 2.0 arena. The same day that I write about Seattle-based Snapvine adding voice comments to social networking sites, SiliconBeat tells us of a new Palo Alto, Calif. company called SayNow that is doing essentially the same thing. SayNow is touting its technology as “Shout Outs” and is targeting the music community.

Evergreen Pacific Partners, a $275 million Seattle private equity firm, doesn’t invest in Internet companies. But the 16-month-old firm is still finding plenty of interesting opportunities. Today, it is announcing the buyout of Snoqualmie-based Nuprecon — the largest demolition company in the Pacific Northwest. The deal, which is being called one of the biggest private equity buyouts in the state this year, follows EPP’s acquisition of Gene Juarez Salon & Spa just three weeks ago. Here’s my story on the deal, which includes Nuprecon founder John Hennessey explaining his reasons for the buyout.

Add another strange sounding portfolio company to the mix at Accelerator, the venture-backed business incubator that accounts for most of the startup activity in Seattle’s biotechnology industry these days. Accelerator has pumped funds into a new company founded by University of Washington researchers called Seredigm — that’s for serendipity and paradigm. That follows Accelerator’s investment in Spaltudaq — which is named after a Salish Indian healing ceremony. Here’s my story on Seredigm, which includes Versant Ventures’ Brian Atwood saying that the technology comes “totally out of left field, and that is why we love it.”

Seattle casual game maker Big Fish Games has tapped a former investment banker as its new president and chief operating officer. Jeremy Lewis, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, who led the development of the firm’s online efforts, said that Big Fish is “clearly positioned to extend its leadership position.” Hmmm. One way to do that would be hiring an investment banker. Perhaps we will see some acquisition activity in the near future. In December, Big Fish, a distributor of games such as Poker Superstars, Mahjong Mania and Totem Treasure, raised $5 million.

Bellevue domain name registrar eNom says after completing the acquisition of BulkRegister this week it is now the second largest domain register in the world, stepping ahead of Network Solutions. eNom, which earlier this week was accused of abetting Hezbollah, was purchased by Demand Media earlier this year.

The gist of the story is that cell phone companies — including Cingular and Verizon — are deciding to work with small startups rather than big players such as Google and Yahoo when it comes to mobile search. Citing “people familiar with the situation,” the Journal reports that Medio is about to ink a deal with Verizon that would include a search bar that could help cell phone users find multimedia content. Here’s my story on Medio from last fall after it raised $11 million in venture capital financing from Frazier Technology Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Dot Edu Ventures and others.

The New York Times reports that venture capital investors are spending more time on later-stage deals, saying that the lack of IPOs is pushing VCs into more mature companies that have hundreds of employees and profits. There are a few examples of this trend in the Seattle area, such as the $35 million investment in Mercer Island-based Global Market Insite or the buyouts that Ignition has led in recent months. But, for the most part, I am still seeing a lot of early-stage activity in Seattle. Just this week, I have written about Snapvine and Seredigm — two tiny companies that have received endrosements from big venture capital firms.

More bad news for Bellevue-based Zango, the adware company formerly known as 180solutions. The Washington Post reports that Warner Bros. Studios, home to Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo and Harry Potter, is cutting its ties with Zango because the games it offers on the entertainment company’s Web site come with software that could pop up adult-oriented ads to kids. According to a statement from Warner Bros., Zango agreed that “no one accessing Zango’s network from the Warner Bros. site would receive inappropriate material.”

“We take this issue very seriously at Warner Bros. and we have maintained all along that if Zango does not meet any one of these criteria, we will terminate the deal,” the statement read.

Friday roundup: More trouble for Zango, a new president at Big Fish and other tidbits

Geez, it is getting hot in the Web 2.0 arena. The same day that I write about Seattle-based Snapvine adding voice comments to social networking sites, SiliconBeat tells us of a new Palo Alto, Calif. company called SayNow that is doing essentially the same thing. SayNow is touting its technology as “Shout Outs” and is targeting the music community.

Evergreen Pacific Partners, a $275 million Seattle private equity firm, doesn’t invest in Internet companies. But the 16-month-old firm is still finding plenty of interesting opportunities. Today, it is announcing the buyout of Snoqualmie-based Nuprecon — the largest demolition company in the Pacific Northwest. The deal, which is being called one of the biggest private equity buyouts in the state this year, follows EPP’s acquisition of Gene Juarez Salon & Spa just three weeks ago. Here’s my story on the deal, which includes Nuprecon founder John Hennessey explaining his reasons for the buyout.

Add another strange sounding portfolio company to the mix at Accelerator, the venture-backed business incubator that accounts for most of the startup activity in Seattle’s biotechnology industry these days. Accelerator has pumped funds into a new company founded by University of Washington researchers called Seredigm — that’s for serendipity and paradigm. That follows Accelerator’s investment in Spaltudaq — which is named after a Salish Indian healing ceremony. Here’s my story on Seredigm, which includes Versant Ventures’ Brian Atwood saying that the technology comes “totally out of left field, and that is why we love it.”

Seattle casual game maker Big Fish Games has tapped a former investment banker as its new president and chief operating officer. Jeremy Lewis, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, who led the development of the firm’s online efforts, said that Big Fish is “clearly positioned to extend its leadership position.” Hmmm. One way to do that would be hiring an investment banker. Perhaps we will see some acquisition activity in the near future. In December, Big Fish, a distributor of games such as Poker Superstars, Mahjong Mania and Totem Treasure, raised $5 million.

Bellevue domain name registrar eNom says after completing the acquisition of BulkRegister this week it is now the second largest domain register in the world, stepping ahead of Network Solutions. eNom, which earlier this week was accused of abetting Hezbollah, was purchased by Demand Media earlier this year.

The gist of the story is that cell phone companies — including Cingular and Verizon — are deciding to work with small startups rather than big players such as Google and Yahoo when it comes to mobile search. Citing “people familiar with the situation,” the Journal reports that Medio is about to ink a deal with Verizon that would include a search bar that could help cell phone users find multimedia content. Here’s my story on Medio from last fall after it raised $11 million in venture capital financing from Frazier Technology Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Dot Edu Ventures and others.

The New York Times reports that venture capital investors are spending more time on later-stage deals, saying that the lack of IPOs is pushing VCs into more mature companies that have hundreds of employees and profits. There are a few examples of this trend in the Seattle area, such as the $35 million investment in Mercer Island-based Global Market Insite or the buyouts that Ignition has led in recent months. But, for the most part, I am still seeing a lot of early-stage activity in Seattle. Just this week, I have written about Snapvine and Seredigm — two tiny companies that have received endrosements from big venture capital firms.

More bad news for Bellevue-based Zango, the adware company formerly known as 180solutions. The Washington Post reports that Warner Bros. Studios, home to Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo and Harry Potter, is cutting its ties with Zango because the games it offers on the entertainment company’s Web site come with software that could pop up adult-oriented ads to kids. According to a statement from Warner Bros., Zango agreed that “no one accessing Zango’s network from the Warner Bros. site would receive inappropriate material.”

“We take this issue very seriously at Warner Bros. and we have maintained all along that if Zango does not meet any one of these criteria, we will terminate the deal,” the statement read.